Erik Spoelstra addresses Seahawks; Russell Wilson impressed

August 27, 2013|By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra clearly has the football bug. He apparently also carries a message that resonates beyond basketball.

Three weeks after attending practice and then addressing the University of Tennessee football team in Knoxville as a favor to friend and Volunteers coach Butch Jones, Spoelstra was in Renton, Wash., on Tuesday, addressing the Seattle Seahawks.

"Just having him here in front of the team and just having him in meetings with us and having him out here in practice is an unbelievable experience for everybody," quarterback Russell Wilson said after Tuesday's practice, with the video of Wilson's interview posted at the Seahawks' website. "For him to be able to talk about how his basketball team was successful and the way that they went about their business in terms of sacrificing . . . just that whole idea of sacrificing everything, the players, LeBron [James] coming to Miami, and Dwyane Wade sacrificing all that, all that type of sacrifice that it takes to be great and to be great so often, is kind of what he talked about for the most part. And having that discipline, as well, too, is something that he talked about, and just working hard, continuing to work hard, continuing to believe in yourselves and ignore the noise.

"That's the main message he gave. And it clicked right with us."

Spoelstra has coached the Heat to the past two NBA championships.

"For Coach Spoelstra to come here and spend time with us and spend time with Coach [Pete] Carroll means a lot to us, first of all," Wilson said. "It's a pleasure to be around him and all the great things that he has done so far with the Miami Heat. And then, if you think about it, for Coach Carroll and Coach Spoelstra to be able to get together and share words and share thoughts and everything like that, that's going to be a huge advantage for us, and hopefully it'll be an advantage for them, too, as well. And hopefully we can learn as much as we can from them, and back and forth.

"And I think that's the coolest part about it, is the fact that he came this far to get here and spend time with us."

Spoelstra is from nearby Portland, Ore., with this his second trip to the Pacific Northwest this offseason. He had visited with Chip Kelly at the University of Oregon in previous seasons, before Kelly became coach of the Philadelphia Eagles this season.

"We can't compare ourselves to them yet," Wilson said of the Heat. "We haven't done anything yet. And they've done a great job of winning the championships, the whole thing. So that's what we want to learn from there: How did they get there? Through all the things that are going on, the positives that have been said, all the negative things that have been said, how do you continue to focus on the work ethic part of it, the sacrifice of it all? And that's what he was talking about today, Coach Spoelstra.

"And just being around him and spending that time with him and kind of breaking down the success that they've had and why they've had it and why they've had it so often, that's the best part about it."